Chapter 782 Ms. Prazzo
After taking a bath and changing clothes, Liu Ji opened a row of sandalwood boxes with soft padding inside. In this row of boxes, there were seventeen white porcelain bottles. Compared with the almost transparent bone china of the Ming Dynasty, The glaze of these white porcelain bottles looks quite milky and even full of cracks, as if they were broken.
Liu Ji stared at the glazed open-piece porcelain in front of him with a heavy expression.
(Southern Song Dynasty glazed open-piece bile bottle)
"Commander Liu." Zhang Cheng has completed the inspection of the goods. The personal belongings of each crew member have also been inspected. However, these personal belongings will not be included in the official ship's cargo list. Each crew member can carry one hundred and seventy Carrying pounds of personal cargo is also one of the rewards of ocean voyages.
The crew mostly brought spices, cinchona, gemstones and other light-weight but high-value goods. Some crew members simply brought all silver, because there were not many valuable goods, and silver was a hard currency.
"Da Ju." Liu Ji came back to his senses and greeted Zhang Cheng.
Zhang Cheng looked at the porcelain in front of him and asked with some confusion: "The glaze of these porcelain is not smooth enough, and it seems to be seriously damaged. Why does Commander Liu protect it so carefully?"
At first glance, these porcelains were made from the Central Plains, and the quality seemed a bit poor. They did not have much commercial value. Liu Ji cherished them so much that he carefully wrapped them in sandalwood boxes for fear of damage. After bathing and changing clothes, he still immediately Check, it's a bit weird.
Liu Ji took a deep breath and said: "This is the porcelain we captured after defeating the local gangsters in Merina Country. It is the porcelain fired locally. It has been about two hundred and fifty years ago. I want to find the porcelain fired locally." There are many craftsmen who made these porcelains, but the locals told us that no one can make them and they have been lost.”
These porcelains are not foreign trade goods, but antiques. They are made in the country of Merina and are not imported goods from the Central Plains.
"Fired locally? Is it fired overseas? Isn't this a typical Southern Song Dynasty gallbladder type?" Zhang Cheng frowned and said in confusion. This is a very typical Southern Song Dynasty type.
Liu Ji sighed and said: "At the time of the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, a group of Fujian people, in order to avoid the disaster of war, took a boat to go south, crossed the Nanyang, exited the Strait of Malacca, then passed through Ceylon, all the way south, and finally arrived at Mai, the largest island in the northwest of the Western Ocean. Lina Island (now Madagascar), they lived on the eastern plains ”
"The temperature in the Northeast does not change much throughout the year. There is no frost or ice. The precipitation is extremely abundant. The plains are vast and endless. The Fujian people who have found a new home live and work in peace and contentment there, building cottages, firing porcelain, reclaiming land, and establishing camps. Fort.”
"Two hundred and fifty years ago, King Mailina attacked these Fujian people, killed the young men, burned down their fields and homes, and robbed their wealth. These porcelains became the heirlooms of King Mailina because of their excellent quality."
"The few remaining news is that the place is called Renjiacun."
Among the prisoners captured by Liu Ji, there were a large number of black people, including King Larambo of Merina.
Larambo dispatched nearly 30,000 people, cooperated with Persian merchants and food merchants, and harassed the Ming Dynasty fleet. The Ming Dynasty paid the price of seven casualties, repelled the enemy, broke through the opponent's capital, and captured the opponent. King, just like when Zheng He captured the King of Ceylon.
The official ships of the Ming Dynasty were extremely wealthy. Every time they docked at a port, people with ulterior motives would target the ships of the Ming Dynasty.
Robbery has happened many times, but this time it was the king of the local dynasty who attacked the Ming fleet, and the nature was completely different.
A small number of the prisoners were of mixed Black and Han descent and had typical Han characteristics.
Liu Ji must fight back. If he swallows his anger, these Persian merchants, red-haired merchants, and black merchants will continue to harass the fleet in the future.
Also during this attack, a five-masted ship and two horse-drawn boats of the Ming Dynasty moored in the port were burned because during the fight, the place where gunpowder was stored was ignited.
Renjia Village is the only information Liu Ji got. The reason why he guessed that he was from Fujian is because this type of vessel was mainly concentrated in Fujian during the Southern Song Dynasty.
"Kill my Han people, damn it! Attack my Ming fleet, damn it!" Zhang Cheng finally understood why Liu Ji cherished these porcelains so much. Two hundred and fifty years later, the only traces that could prove the existence of these Fujian people were These are porcelain.
Liu Ji took them home, and the fallen leaves returned to their roots.
Liu Ji looked around and said: "That area can at least cultivate one million hectares of land. It is an endless plain, with a lot of rainfall. There can be three or four crops a year. From west to east, there are mountains and forests. , grasslands and plains.”
The reason why the Ming Dynasty's global trade fleet went to the country of Merina was mainly because there was no colony or governor's palace of the Red Mao Fan there.
Opposite the country of Melina is the Portuguese Almeida. In the 18th year of Hongzhi, he established the Mozambique Governor's Palace, with Fort St. James as the core and surrounded by more than 60 castles for colonial rule. The sphere of influence ranges from Cape of Good Hope to Manbasa (now Mombasa).
A simple summary of the Portuguese's local rule is to rule without governing, and to rob and leave.
The local chiefs constantly clashed with the Portuguese. The chiefs could not break through the Portuguese castles, but they could always break through the Portuguese plantations. The angry Portuguese would form a foreign gun team to suppress the rebellion. You come and I go, the killing is inextricable.
The native chiefs knew the terrain better, while the Portuguese had firearms, and the battle between the two sides was very intense.
According to the fleet's understanding of the Mozambique Governor's Mansion, it seems that the Turkish chiefs have a feudal state. Deep in the mountains and forests, there is a king who canonizes the chiefs of the Turkish chiefs. Almost all attacks come from these canonized chiefs.
Liu Ji has no interest or ability to know more. The Ming Dynasty is really far away from here, and Portugal's colonial war has been fought for more than eighty years and will continue to be fought for the foreseeable future.
The Ming Dynasty's global trading merchant ships had enough strength to protect themselves, but too much participation in the war would bring unnecessary risks to the ocean-going fleet. Therefore, with the help of Persian merchants and food merchants, the Ming Dynasty explored the wheat After departing from the Cape of Good Hope, the route was changed to the Malina route.
The reason for changing the route was due to safety considerations and also due to tariff considerations.
Supplies along the way to the Mozambique Governor's Palace are too expensive and unnecessary. Fresh water has been supplied at the Cape of Good Hope, so there is no need for too many stops. However, the high tariffs along the way are always painful.
Liu Ji did not expect that this was a trap carefully laid by the food merchants and Persian merchants in conjunction with the local king. All the star maps, needle maps, and hydrographs were true, but the good intentions were false.
(Gifford Islands)
"Although he walked into the trap step by step, he still relied on his tyrannical strength to defeat the opponent's plan, and captured the opponent's king and presented him as a prisoner." Zhang Cheng concluded.
The Portuguese Governor-General and the local indigenous people have been in love and fighting each other for eighty years, and they are still troubled by the indigenous people.
On the other side of the sea, the Ming Dynasty Global Trade fleet walked into a carefully laid trap step by step, and defeated the opponent's siege of 30,000 people, attacked the opponent's capital, and captured the opponent. king.
This sounds outrageous, but for Ming, it seems very reasonable.
After all, this happened once, when Zheng He defeated the ambitious King of Ceylon, captured him, and presented him as a prisoner.
Very reasonable.
"Obviously, the country of Merina is very suitable as a supply ground for the Ming Dynasty at the end of the Western Ocean. With more than one million hectares of fertile land, all of it can be cultivated and how many people will be fed." Zhang Cheng understood Liu Ji's true intention, and it was very suitable for resettlement. A pioneering lord, and became the land of Liuhe in the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty needed some footholds in the vast Western and Atlantic Oceans to ensure free trade.
It’s all about free trade!
Liu Ji escorted a large number of prisoners to the capital on the fast sailing ship Feiyun. On this March day, Bohai Bay was already busier than ever.
The third day of March every year is the Cao Cao Festival. On this day, all walks of life north of the Huaihe River in the Qinling Mountains began to prepare for sea trade. Liu Ji led the fleet to Tanggu Port in Tianjin Prefecture.
On the seventh day of March, Emperor Zhu Yijun of the Ming Dynasty received the report of Liu Ji's stay at Huitongguanyi.
Before Zhu Yijun met with Liu Ji, he received two memorials. One was Liu Ji's memorial to the emperor about Mozambique, and the other was a memorial from the Ministry of Rites regarding depriving Yang Ting and Wenzhong of their posthumous titles.
Wenzhong is the posthumous title second only to Wenzheng.
The posthumous title is the trace of deeds; the title is the performance.
The posthumous title is the final conclusion of a person's lifetime achievements. After carefully studying the records of the Zhengde and Jiajing years and various old cases, the Ministry of Rites reported to the emperor and requested that such a high-level posthumous title be revoked.
If Yang Tinghe's posthumous title was Wenzhong, the posthumous title would become cheap, which would be a great harm to all civil servants. Just like after Zhenzong of Song Dynasty went to Mount Tai to be enshrined, no emperor was willing to go to Mount Tai to be enshrined.
The posthumous title of Wenzhong will bring about the devaluation of the posthumous title for Yang Tinghe.
The reason given by the Ministry of Rites is sufficient. Emperor Sejong won the debate over the Great Rites. If Emperor Sejong lost, the fate of Emperor Sejong would be the fate of Hou Haihun, the deposed emperor of the Western Han Dynasty.
There is no doubt that Yang Tinghe is an out-and-out powerful official. If Yang Tinghe is given such a high standard and a posthumous title of Wenzhong, it will also undermine the etiquette of monarchs and ministers for thousands of years, so the Ministry of Rites made corrections.
"In December of the forty-fifth year of the Jiajing reign, Xu Jie led the Kechen Kedao Jiaozhang Lianzai, saying that Yang Tinghe deserved the honors for his great achievements. The late emperor could not defeat Xu Jie, nor could he defeat these powerful public opinions. In order to calm the discussion, he had to Reinstate him and give him a posthumous title." Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "Then let's take away the posthumous title according to the proposal of the Ministry of Rites."
The late emperor gave Yang Tinghe the posthumous title because the court needed it, and Zhu Yijun deprived him of it because the court needed it. This is the repetitive nature of politics.
Xu Jie wanted to give Yang Tinghe a posthumous title because he was afraid that he would not die well. He even gave eye drops to Emperor Longqing who had just ascended the throne to let him know who had the final say in the court. But in the end, Xu Jie and Yang Tinghe were the same. , was expelled from the court.
The second memorial, Liu Ji's first memorial, explains the situation in the country of Mailina. In summary, the land in Mailina is fertile, but it is very poor.
The lack of large livestock means that farming is limited, and one can only rely on manpower to cultivate a little bit of wasteland. In addition, the lack of large livestock means a lack of transportation means, and transportation is very blocked.
In addition to the lack of livestock, the local black farmers are very lazy. The time and location are too favorable. Even if you sow a few seeds, you can get a huge harvest. The locals do not have strong incentives to promote agriculture. develop.
The weapons used in the Kingdom of Merina were mainly spears tied with stone flakes and bronze vessels of poor quality. In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, the quality of those bronze vessels was even worse than that of the third generation of Confucianism.
Melina is very suitable as the foothold of the Ming Dynasty at the end of the Western Ocean. If the Ming Dynasty establishes a foothold there, it can reach the Old Port Governor's Palace directly from the Cape of Good Hope. On the east side of the country of Melina, there are many small islands that can be used as freshwater sources. Supplies can save a lot of time.
On the east side of the country of Merina, there are continuous islands. These islands were named Bat Island by the Portuguese Mascarene. The islands are deserted. Liu Ji built multiple supply points on these islands without human garrison. It was used to supply fresh water to the Ming caravans, and Liu Ji named it the Jifu Islands.
Liu Ji said that the sea water in the Guifou Islands was very beautiful. Zhu Yijun knew that what Liu Ji said was true. In later generations, this place was called Mauritius, and tourism was its pillar industry.
"Liu Ji brought me dozens of dodos to keep me from doing my job." Zhu Yijun sat up straight and said, "Go get a few and take a look."
(Dodo) Feng Bao quickly caught three dodos and arrived outside Tonghe Palace. Zhu Yijun looked at the dodo in front of him. The most distinctive feature of the dodo was its huge beak, nearly seven inches, blue-gray. The feathers are particularly beautiful. The wings are small, which means it cannot fly. The tail has a tuft of curly white feathers, which looks quite fluffy.
This bird looks a bit dull and not very alert. It is moved here and there, and it just looks around curiously, rather than in fear.
"Dudu!"
The dodo, which was still curious, made a sharp neighing sound and flapped its short wings desperately, looking a bit funny.
The dodo's cry is toot, hence the name. The sailors of the Ming Dynasty liked to watch them in a daze and used to drive them away for fun. It was really funny when they ran away in a panic.
The good-natured Dodo was so frightened that a big hand grabbed it by the neck and lifted it up.
Zhu Yijun reached out and grabbed the dodo, held it in his hand, and pulled the down from the dodo's tail.
The dodo's feathers are covered with a thick layer of down. Judging from the feel, an adult dodo weighs more than thirty kilograms, which is heavier than a goose.
"Get some white goose down." Zhu Yijun threw the dodo back into the cage, holding a handful of down in his hand.
Xiaohuangmen brought the best white goose down from the Ming Dynasty court. Since the Tang Dynasty, white goose down has been mainly used to make lightweight warm linings and quilts. Zhu Yijun carefully compared the white goose down with the dodo down for a long time before confirming that it was not the same. Weaker than white goose down.
A doctor from Gokuyuan once conducted a boring experiment. He wrapped boiling water in different quilts, inserted a thermometer, and measured the thermal insulation properties of various quilts for two quarters of an hour. In order to be accurate, a total of hundreds of experiments were conducted.
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The temperature of the down jacket package dropped by 3 degrees; the wool package dropped by 5 degrees; the leather package dropped by 7 degrees; and the cotton package dropped by 10 degrees.
Zhu Yijun once paid attention to this boring experiment. Down has the highest thermal insulation rate, and the down on the Dodo bird is of high quality, with excellent fluffiness and softness.
Emperor Ming looked at the dodo swinging in the cage and said: "It has a good temper, much better than that of the goose. It looks a little lazy; it weighs more than thirty kilograms, has a lot of meat, and is as big as an egg." It is larger than duck eggs, and the most important thing is that it is not picky, a very good poultry.”
"Send Bao Qi Si to cultivate Da Sinong."
According to the sailors, the taste was very good, a bit like pigeon meat. Zhu Yijun was not willing to kill them, so he brought back dozens of them to breed them first, and then artificially selected and cultivated them to increase the diversity of poultry.
Zhu Yijun likes these crops and livestock species that may seem inconspicuous, but can quietly change the Ming Dynasty and add diversity to the Ming Dynasty's dining table. They are very beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. People are actually very simple, just basic necessities, food, housing and transportation.
Liu Ji's memorial not only described the Malina Kingdom and the Gifford Islands in detail, but also described the colonial war in Mozambique.
Portugal's most important interest in Mozambique is gold. Unlike the Ming Dynasty, Thailand has a large number of silver mines. Silver is produced in various countries, but gold is extremely scarce. There is a river in Mozambique called the Zambezi River, which is the upper reaches of the Zambezi River. There was a lot of gold produced.
The Portuguese colonists set out from the castle and after hundreds of attacks, they still failed to get the gold mining area. In order to obtain enough gold, the Red Mao Fans chose marriage.
In the Government House of Mozambique, a prazo system was born, which is a kind of identity politics and is only awarded to local women, also called prazzo ladies.
Any woman who is granted the status of Ms. Prazzo can live in the colonist's castle, free from war, and her property can be fully protected, and even recognized by the upper class, and Ms. Prazzo can attend. Various drinking parties, learning Portuguese and Latin, wearing gorgeous clothes, and learning various etiquette.
The gold in their hands is the ticket to the upper class.
The most interesting thing is that Ms. Prazzo's identity can be hereditary, but this identity can only be inherited by her daughter. Based on her identity, the property can only be inherited by women.
To obtain the above privileges, Ms. Prazzo must marry a Portuguese, convert to Catholicism, and swear allegiance.
Because of the different amounts of gold she possesses, Ms. Prazzo has a strict hierarchy. There are four levels in total. The four levels of status have different privileges. The highest-ranking Ms. Prazzo can even join the Governor's Palace Council and participate in policy decisions.
Of course, not having enough gold is not a problem. There is another way to advance Ms. Prazzo's level, through influence.
There are two types of influence, the first is introduction.
A Prazo lady, the lowest class, only needs to introduce 112 qualified indigenous ladies to become converts of God in order to be promoted to the highest class lady.
But there is also a very strict system of continuous sitting. If a Prazo lady does not marry a Portuguese and betrays her husband or God, she is regarded as unfaithful and unfaithful.
The 112 Prazzo ladies who were introduced into the city were all punished, and the punishment was to be burned at the stake.
The second method of reform is war.
There are 1,400 Prazo ladies living in Fort St. James. Whenever the colonists and the native barbarians go to war, these Prazo ladies will go out of the city with the colonists to act as lobbyists and persuade the local tribes. Give up resistance, or become an insider, because after the tribe is conquered, the woman is captured, which is regarded as the woman's probation.
"I have to admit that when it comes to colonization, the Thai people are extremely powerful." Zhu Yijun said sincerely after studying the Ms. Prazo system in detail.
The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty finally understood why Legas always criticized the Ming Dynasty for being addicted to being a father and having a full sense of morality. He repeatedly emphasized that the Ming Dynasty had high moral disadvantages in the colonial process.
As the emperor, Zhu Yijun had tried his best to put away his fatherly attitude. Sometimes, Zhu Yijun even felt that Ming Dynasty could compete with Taixi in terms of low morals!
Isn't it better than not being a human being? Ming Dynasty had its own Huayi debate!
Zhu Yijun was completely sober. In terms of low moral superiority, the Taixi people were still far ahead.
"Your Majesty, I think it's useless." Feng Bao said in a low voice: "This is all magic, not Tao, just doing this. The red-haired fan still does not control the upper reaches of the Zambezi River. The gold he dreams of , still have to be obtained through trade. ”
The Portuguese used Ms. Prazo's influence to completely gain the upper hand in the colonial war, but that was all. The Portuguese still failed to invade the upper reaches of the Zambezi River and take control of the gold mining area in their own hands.
The indigenous tribe discovered what Ms. Prazzo had done, and began to ban Ms. Prazzo from entering the tribe, and even killed her unconditionally to eliminate possible risks.
The second biggest interest of the Portuguese in Mozambique is the black slaves.
Mozambique can capture more than 10,000 slaves every year and send them to various plantations for cultivation. Unlike the big food businessmen who like to do monopoly business, these slaves will not be castrated so that they can reproduce in the plantations.
In the slave business in Mozambique, both men and women are shipped and sold.
"Liu Ji has sufficient evidence to show that those Ms. Prazo who have lost their value will be sold as slaves by their husbands, because the Portuguese who did business with the Ming Dynasty often changed their female companions, and among the women who loaded ships, Some of them are obviously mixed-race." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty of the details in Liu Ji's memorial.
The spirit of contract advocated by Legaz is just a pursuit, just like the benevolence of scholar-bureaucrats, it is a moral appeal, not a reality.
The reality is that the red-haired fan will not abide by the agreement at all. After Ms. Prazzo’s original tribe is conquered, the lady who has lost her value will be put on a ship and sold to an unknown place.
This prompted a revolt from Ms. Prazzo.
Enes, the previous Governor of the Governor's Palace of Mozambique, was killed in the Governor's Palace by a Ms. Prazzo named Calloway. Ms. Prazzo escaped from the castle and established a resistance force to fight against The Governor-General of Mozambique called on Ms. Prazo to resist.
The new governor has so far failed to quell this resistance force composed of Ms. Prazzo, and he has reaped the consequences.
"Prepare to announce the meeting with Liu Ji." Zhu Yijun sent Liu Ji's memorial to the Ministry of Rites in the next chapter and gave it to the Ministry of Rites for use in compiling "Overseas Fanguo Zhi".
Overseas Fanguozhi is still a best-seller in the Ming Dynasty. Any owner or captain who wants to go to sea must buy a copy as a reference to prevent misjudgment of the local situation.
In the early morning of the next day, Zhu Yijun summoned Pandu commander Liu Ji, who had returned from a voyage, at the Wenhua Palace.
"My minister Liu Ji pays homage to your majesty. Long live your majesty. Long live your majesty."
"Your Majesty once told me: In a time of great strife, the strong will be strong, the weak will be destroyed, and only with the sword can you travel across the world. I remember the holy teachings, but when I traveled to the country of Merina, I still relaxed my vigilance and fell into the trap by mistake. Guilty." Liu Ji bowed three times and bowed solemnly to plead guilty.
Zhu Yijun sat up straight and said: "Ai Qing is exempt from courtesy. I read Ai Qing's statement and asked Tiqi to question the captains, navigators, helmsmen, sailors and others. Ai Qing is not guilty. In fact, it is because the enemy is too strong. "Cunning."
Three ships were destroyed, and seven people died in the naval battle. This was not Liu Ji's responsibility. Liu Ji was very cautious. He confirmed that the star map, needle map, and hydrography were all correct. Liu Ji even sent a few ships to contact him first, and everything was normal. dock.
After docking, Liu Ji strictly ordered the crew not to drink alcohol or eat water and food from unknown sources.
Without these cautious orders, the Ming Global Trade Fleet, which had fallen into a trap, would not have suffered such a small loss.
"The Ministry of Etiquette must do a good job in providing pensions. Following the old practice, if the children attend the third-level school affiliated to Songjiang Town Maritime College, they must not be deprived of their families. If the mother does not remarry, she will still give monthly rations to the wives of soldiers and soldiers." Zhu Yijun emphasized again for pension work.
Soldiers who sacrificed their lives fighting for the collective benefit of the Ming Dynasty should be given enough honor by their family members and descendants.
Every New Year, the governor of Songjiang, on behalf of the emperor himself, would visit the families of these loyal martyrs and solve their practical difficulties.
When the emperor of Wei Guogong, Xu Bangrui, came up with a system during his southern tour, he gave monthly rations to the wives of soldiers and their families. The more children they had, the more they gave. It was an incentive system and achieved very good results. Even if soldiers sacrificed their lives, their children could already He grew up peacefully and attended the school affiliated to Songjiang Maritime College.
When you work for the Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun, you don't have to worry about remuneration or worries. His Majesty is doing it, and all the soldiers are watching. People's support may seem illusory but it is real.
Zhu Yijun took the porcelain presented by Liu Ji and said with a stern expression: "There is also Larambo, the king of Merina Kingdom, and a group of thieves who beheaded in public, changed the Governor's Palace of Jifu, dared to kill Han people, and attacked our Ming Dynasty fleet. , take death!”
When Zheng He captured the king of Ceylon and his son, Emperor Chengzuwen chose to give them five chapters of military uniforms and incorporated them into the vassal state.
Zhu Yijun chose to kill.
As the memorial to the Ministry of Rites said, times have changed.
(End of chapter)